I’m with Code for Asheville and we’re interested in creating a solution for police complaints. Folks in our community are afraid to file complaints, even “anonymous” ones, because it would be simple for officers to determine the submitter by the details of the report.
Has anyone seen a solution where a 3rd party receives and follows up on complaints, protecting anonymity and ensuring that officers are held accountable?
Any ideas are welcome!
Hello @AlyxP. My name is Andrew and I did some work with the New Orleans Independent Police Monitor in New Orleans. There website can probably give you ideas. If you want I can try and connect you to someone there and some partners they work with.
@AlyxP - Check out this episode of Civic Tech Chat in which @Ryan-Koch interviews two folks from the City of Austin about how they built their anonymous police complaint form:
https://civictech.chat/2019/07/civic-tech-and-police-oversight-in-austin
I don’t believe they addressed your question specifically, but perhaps the structure of their department is something you may be able to take away back to advocate for in Asheville? And also, perhaps the interviewees, Farah or Marni, would be available to field questions as well.
Thanks for the suggestion- will check that out!
I’ll check them out- BIG thanks!